Speech - Next Generation Internet/Networks Workshop - Dr. Roger Pederson, President & CEO, TRLabs

November 09, 2007 -- Good morning, and on behalf of TRLabs welcome to today's Workshop focused on the Next Generation Internet and Networks.

It’s been said that time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician. There was a beautiful simplicity about the network-building era of the 1990’s. It provided great focus on a goal – connectivity.

And for the most part we're there…..

More than one billion people today have access to the Internet. 1.5 billion are using cell phones.

The world’s repository of information is doubling every 3 years.

The community of geography has been replaced by communities of interest that transcend all known conventions of “boundary”.

And today's users now assume the network is a utility.

But we now also increasingly expect networks to do more for us.

We all want technology to be easier to use, more seamless….more human in the way we interact with it. A new triple play – lifestyle, convenience, and productivity – has emerged as we quickly transition from bringing networks to life, to giving them a personality.

Today’s ICT challenge is how to fool the user into thinking they are somewhere else. The radiologist would like to be inside the body. The neuro-surgeon would like to see the actual connectivity of a brain so she can clip each root individually. A virtual visit with the grandchildren is no longer complete without the ability to see, touch, feel, and even smell.

Wireless broadband, IP networks, low cost information storage, ubiquitous wireless, and geo-everything put within reach the notion of one network, with seamless and invisible integration for the consumer.

Computing power, increasing bandwidth, all-optical networks, and innovative restoration and protection approaches are allowing us to conceive of a future with a high quality of service backbone that is able to feed and sustain the adrenalin rush of a new quality of experience.

Translation?

The world of content, applications, and services has blossomed, the value-building ICT business model has emerged, and we're collectively driving a new form of demand on, and for, networks.

We can for the first time even entertain wild new possibilities – like a vision for a distributed healthcare system that taps centralized databases, electronic medical records, 3D and 4D digital imaging, and wireless networks to enable medical workers to access patient records anywhere, collaborate on diagnosis and treatment using any device. Today’s ‘Big H’ hospital is tomorrow's ‘Million Little Hospitals’ - a distributed and individualized system of health care that ties your home to the health system via bio-monitoring, personal ownership of health records, and real-time connection to a wellness network of medical professionals and family members around the globe.

The ability to move data over distance with ultra-high reliability, and visualize, interpret, and collaborate in real-time using data in a way that feels natural to us, is a critical underpinning of the path forward.

But to accomplish the feeling of being "as good as real" – we place a monumental challenge in front of us….the network will have to be even more reliable, faster, and more mobile. The backhoe can no longer humorously be referred to as a Universal Cable Locator. Light speed must be able to reach us anywhere. There are myriad other challenges to build a vision – including very significant technology and network integration challenges, information security, and the user interface.

And so for TRLabs a world of new possibilities has us reflecting changing times in adjustments to our service offering – perhaps best represented by a re-focusing of our R&D program around eHealth, eHome, and Connected Media.

We welcome you here today to explore the future.

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